The personal story of Global Grind's Michael Skolnik anchors a heartfelt call to action to put an end to gun violence.

14-year-old Antonio Davis, shot dead. 13-year-old Tyquan Tyler, shot dead. 6-year-old Aliyah Shell, shot dead. 7-year-old Heaven Sutton, shot dead. They have names. They have people who love them. They do not die in vain. We will remember, not just the four mentioned who were killed in the past 9 months, but we remember all of them. This is not a black problem, Latino problem, Asian problem or a white problem. This is America's problem. This is the city of Chicago's problem. Regardless of whether or not the overall crime rate in the city is down, when any child dies, a piece of us dies with them.

… So, what if we all decided to try to put an end to these weekly funerals. What if the faces of the children unfroze from horror. What if the tears down mama's face rolled back into her eyes. What if the bouquets of flowers were never taken from the ground. What if God didn't get asked so many questions …

The Root aims to foster and advance conversations about issues relevant to the black Diaspora by presenting a variety of opinions from all perspectives, whether or not those opinions are shared by our editorial staff.